What Verstappen is risking with his current stance on 2021 F1 world title defeat
OPINION: Max Verstappen is back in the lead of the 2021 Formula 1 drivers’ championship, with the season’s final flyaway events set to get underway in the USA this weekend. But a defensive stance he’s recently adopted could have a lasting impact for the Red Bull driver when it comes to his chances of defeating Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes
"So far, we’ve had a really good year, so it’s not going to change the world for me if we finish first or second at the end of the day."
Max Verstappen spoken these words in the post-race press conference at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, after he’d been soundly beaten by Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas in the wet conditions at Istanbul Park.
Share Or Save This Story
Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.
A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.
More from Alex Kalinauckas
How Stroll and Magnussen revealed the scale of F1’s racing and rules problems
10 things we learned from the 2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix
Chinese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2024
Red Bull says it can't match "very lucrative" Audi F1 offer to Sainz
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
Sainz: All my best 2025 F1 seat options are "still open"
Norris: McLaren can win races in F1 2024 if it gets everything right
Alonso: Stroll more sensitive to Aston F1 car handling issues I drive around
Latest news
Josh Berry "not necessarily panicked" over tough 2024 season
Greg Biffle among new 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees
Krack: Aston Martin frustrated by inconsistent F1 penalty decisions
Yamaha to test completely new MotoGP bike at Jerez
Prime
How Stroll and Magnussen revealed the scale of F1’s racing and rules problems
Did F1's new sprint format work?
Chinese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2024
Why Verstappen's China F1 win was a sideshow to the real battle
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.